"Something I want to see": Guy Ritchie's new gangster film is screening in Toronto.

By Donna Freydkin, USA TODAY

TORONTO  Crime pays for Guy Ritchie.

The British director has returned to his seedy-movie roots with the gangster flick RocknRolla, which is screening at the Toronto Film Festival. After last year's flop Revolver, Ritchie is hoping he has scored a hit in the vein of 1998's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and 2000's Snatch.

In RocknRolla, Tom Wilkinson's Mob boss scuffles with shady Russians over a land deal and deals with his wayward stepson. Ritchie feels optimistic about how RocknRolla is being received. "So far, it feels like there's a warm breeze blowing, doesn't it?"

He insists he doesn't feel trapped by the British-gangster genre. "At least it will always give me a job," he says. "I enjoy doing them. I made it as much for me as I did for an audience. It's an indulgence of mine because it's something I want to see at the movies."

Says producer Susan Downey, who's also working with Ritchie on Sherlock Holmes: "This is what Guy does well. It was a great story, great character, fantastic dialogue."

The film is driven by the ugly relationship between Wilkinson's gangster and his stepson. And no, it wasn't inspired by Ritchie's own relationship with his sons, Rocco, 8, and David, almost 3, with his famous wife, Madonna, or his stepdaughter, Lourdes, 11.

"I'm trying to think where I got that idea from," Ritchie says. "I liked the complexity of the relationship. By the way, Part 2 deals quite a lot with this issue. Gangsters like the idea of sending their sons to posh English schools, and that tickles me."

Yes, Ritchie already has written the sequel, which he hopes to make if RocknRolla, in theaters Oct. 8, does well. He says he doesn't read reviews but does care how his films do at the box office. "If (a movie) doesn't make money, I don't make another movie, so it's significant."

Ritchie isn't much of a talker, answering questions with as few words as possible.

What does he do when he's at home? "I like a beer. Beer and Jiu-Jitsu. I love the kids."

He's certainly not eager to discuss his spouse, who's on her Sticky & Sweet world tour. "She's in Italy," he says.

If he has time, he'll meet up with her. First, he'll fly home to London. Rocco and Lourdes are on tour with their mom, so "it will probably be me and young David (at home). Me and young David may go to the countryside together."

How do husband and wife balance two big careers in one household? "Try to make time for one another, I reckon."

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